The Two Brothers' Tale
by Mrs. Write
Summary: My first Fanfiction in English : It deals with Naruto who one day finds a book which will change his whole life. Please write reviews, I don't have ANY...
1. Naruto Uzumaki

**The Two Brothers' Tale  
**Told from Naruto's point of view as a first person narrator

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_  
**Chapter 1  
„Naruto Uzumaki"**

As I woke up on this morning I knew it was not a normal day.  
It was a day where a strange, heavy atmosphere wavered through the air, reminding me of someone's tragedy. Something sad, something I knew…  
I had my eyes still closed while I tried to identify what made me feel so uneasy. It dawned to me that it had got something to do with me,  
that there was waiting something for me to discover. I tried to grasp my problem, but the more I thought, the more it blurred.

I sighed and got up.  
My room was flooded with sunlight. I blinked confusedly - was it noon already? Yawning, I threw a look at my watch - it was ten o'clock. I frowned.

Ten o'clock?  
That was not normal… Normally, I slept until twelve o'clock in the afternoon... At least, at weekends.  
What was wrong with me? Why had I woken up so early?

I walked around in my room without a real destination.  
Of course it was untidy.  
Piles of clothes, Ninja roles, leftovers, litter and a lot of other things were spread over the bottom. Normally, I liked that chaos – it always arose a feeling  
of home inside me.

But today it was different.

I was afraid, felt uncertain without knowing why. The things around me seemed foreign, like they didn't belong to me anymore. It was as if something would  
soon happen, something which made me be so tensed. I had no clue what this happening could be and yet I could feel something coming.

I walked to the window and threw a look at my garden.  
It was a nice day.  
The light of the sun fell through the window in front of me, warming my face. It was not unpleasant, but there was something which made me frown again.  
This warm sunny weather was not in line with my mood. Not that I expected the weather to change with my whims, but it still was something so contradictory  
it made me feel confused.  
A gloominess rose up inside me, creating a huge contrast to the light in my room.

Looking at the garden didn't really help me and I turned my back to it.  
Overwhelmed by a sudden tiredness, I strolled back to my bed and let me fall upon it.  
I was about to get back to sleep when something catched my attention.

Next to me, on my bedside table, there lay a book.

At first glance I knew it did not belong to me.  
I had never seen it before nor did I know how it happened to be there. It was thick, old, muddy and seemed to effuse a strange aura.

What made me touch it was the title.  
"Naruto Uzumaki".

"Someone's written a book about me?" I thought.  
I ran my fingers over the cover- It was unusually smooth. As I examined it more closely, more and more questions rose up inside my head.

Why was that book in my room?  
Did anyone expect me to read it? But why?  
Should this be a beginning of this happening I sensed coming all the time?  
And who could have made that?

The first person I came to think of was my master, Jiraiya. He was not only my coach but also an author.  
But why should he write such a book without telling me? I shifted my fingers between the pages and opened the book.

The scripture was faint but not too much to be unable to identify the letters.  
I was suddenly wide awake and curious.  
Fascinated, I began reading.

_Once upon a time, there was a Nine Tailed Demon Fox. __It was called Kyubi__.  
__It was a monster with such an enormous power that people always feared it like a natural disaster. It appeared out of nothingness, crushed whole  
countries with one of his tails' stroke, and vanished, leaving destruction and hopelessness behind. _

_But once, and only once in the history of the Great Ninja World, there were two brothers with legendary power.  
They were so strong that even Kyubi's power was almost nothing compared to them…  
These brothers were said to be sent out of heaven itself… Rumours were spreading that they even had a direct connection to the God of all Shinobi._

_With their monstrous power, they would be able to control the Kyubi. __And certainly, their Chakras became known world-wide.  
__Knowing that somebody existed who would control the Kyubi… the villagers of Konoha began crying for a bit of protection. The villagers and the Hokage,  
the whole Land of Fire realised that these were the destined Shinobi. They were born to finally bring peace to the Ninja world. _

_The legendary brothers, who were both born in Konoha… couldn't stand seeing their own friends suffering from catastrophes any more.  
They both started thinking about a new Jutsu which would enable them to seal the Kyubi away… _

_And seeing what Chakras they had, the world government of all Shinobi countries began worrying about them.  
__Ninja with such a destructive power could be misused for bad purposes.  
__The Two Brothers could easily throw the world in chaos. They represented a great danger, because nobody knew what they wanted to do with their  
enormous Chakras. _

_The world government gave them a task to do in order to find out how they would react.  
__The brothers had to use their powers in order to keep the world in balance. They were asked to work for the world government and to submit to their orders.  
__This task was an unsure attempt to discover which purposes The Two Brothers had._

_Then something happened which nobody would have counted on:  
__They did really comply__._

_They seemed to have a positive character and agreed to join the government immediately. Both __brothers were determined to improve the situation  
not only of Konoha, but also for the whole world. One reason of this quick consent was that their parents had been killed in a war where Kyubi was involved.  
By all means they wanted to protect their villagers from another catastrophe like this…  
__At the very day where they officially became members of the world government, they began thinking about the Kyubi, which was still the greatest danger for all Shinobi.  
__Together, The Two Brothers worked hard at a plan to tame the Demon Fox.  
__They wanted to create a new Jutsu._

_A Jutsu, which became later known as "Book of Destiny"._

_They invented a legendary book which gave them the unbelievable power to tame the Demon Fox…  
The Two Brothers managed to put a lot of their Chakra into an ordinary book. Using their powers, the book became extraordinary … and they were finally able to predestine the  
future by themselves. They just had to write down into the Book of Destiny what should happen to the Kyubi. The things which were written down would later turn into reality._

_Knowing that a Chakra Monster can't be killed,__ the Two Brothers wanted to capture or control the Kyubi by writing down its "destiny".  
__The "Book of Destiny" was their instrument to obtain force above the Demon Fox.  
__Like that, The Two Brothers would finally be able to tame the monster…_

_But, like every great Jutsu, this one had disadvantages, too.  
Sacrifices had to be made…  
__Victims whose future was already written down in the Book of Destiny. Their whole life was predestined __from their birth until death__- on the other side, one "desire",  
whatever it was, would be fulfilled. __Once written down, a person's future couldn't be changed any more. _

_This unchangable predestination was the drawback of the new Jutsu. __That there was another drawback, the Two Brothers didn't know yet._

_The whole life of a person, of course, already required a lot of thinking - before writing down a story.__ They took their time to develop a plan.  
__It had to be worked out with perfection. Flaws or mistakes would be a huge disgrace for them – born as two prodigies, they could not afford to make any mistake  
in front of the world._

_If they made one – then the faith of Sunagakure in Konoha would be destroyed; Kirigakure (for a __long time at enmity with the Brothers'__ village) would have a reason  
to declare war on Konoha and many other villages would at least notice their weakness and probably try to attack them._

_Their decisions would certainly have serious consequences… "Keep the world in balance" has not been an exaggeration: The Two Brothers really were responsible for  
the peace of the world._

_At the time they were ready, The Two Brothers wrote down their plan. They decided that the fourth Hokage should seal the Kyubi in a new-born boy… a boy, who was later  
known as Naruto Uzumaki. _

_The brothers planned to imprison the monster in a human… because they thought this would be the safest and only possibility for protecting Konoha. This monster  
couldn't be killed, so they decided to lock it up in a human.  
The Two Brothers wanted to control crime, violence and wars… and Kyubi was often involved in catastrophes like that…  
__And being caged inside in such a highly controllable nature like a human, the brothers thought the Kyubi could not burst out unpredictably any more._

_But Konoha and the whole Shinobi world was unsure whether such an experiment on a human really worked.  
Nobody had ever tried to use a Jutsu like the Book of Destiny before.  
__It was a new technique. _

_Nobody could foresee what would finally happen to the fourth Hokage and his son, the sacrifice. The brothers had already broken a tabu…  
Experiments with humans and especially with babies were forbidden. __If they failed, the baby would die and in worst case, a Third Worldwar would break out__.  
They could do nothing but __try and wait._

_But it really happened.  
__The fourth Hokage squeezed the Demon Fox in his own son. Naruto survived._

_Sealed in a human and constantly being controlled like that, Kyubi never burst out again. The man-made connection between the new-born boy and  
the monster was irreversible… their destiny, together, was it to remain in this body for the next years.  
__Would the boy die one day, the monster would die, too – and vice versa. Kyubi (against all knowledge) was turned into a mortal being.  
__Like that, the monster was tamed by the Book of Destiny forever. _

_However, protection was given to Konoha for a high price…  
__The fourth Hokage, the legendary Yondaime, rescued Konoha by sealing a monster in his own son… _

_But he died. _

_At this point, the villagers and the Two Brothers realised that every single destiny written down in the book... would cost a life.  
__On the one hand, the Two Brothers had the unbelievable might to control the future directly… but on the other hand, every time a new destiny was invented, or  
an old destiny was changed, a human's life had to be taken._

_One destiny, one life, that was the inseparable bond between the Book of Destiny and the humans who were involved._

_This was the price Konoha had to pay… they lost a great Ninja forever… one of the best Hokage ever known was dead.  
__His son had no father any more.  
__He had no mother either, because she had died at his birth. _

_Naruto Uzumaki was alone now right from the very start.  
__Damned to grow up without parents… damned to be raised in a world where nobody really liked him. _

_Surprisingly few humans were shocked from this result. Konoha, of course, grieved for their Hokage – but the Two Brothers were almost the only ones who  
felt sorry for Naruto. The villagers of Konoha couldn't help but __turn their fear upon__ Naruto- who was carrying the murderer of countless families._

_The rest of the world were only glad to have cleared the danger of the monster.  
__Speaking about the Kyubi and the truth became a world-wide tabu. Like that, the next generation and Naruto himself would not know the truth for a long time._

_However, The Two Brothers knew that, despite or because of that tabu, people would talk about it.  
__And also in order to never forget this catastrophe, they gave the boy's destiny a title. _

_It was named "The Two Brothers' Tale". _

_This is the story of Naruto Uzumaki._

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_So this is the beginning of the Two Brothers' Tale.  
__How could Naruto react to that? What will he do?  
__And will he find answers __to his many questions?_

_Next chapter – "A child's desire"_

_It will be uploaded on 1__st__ February 2009_

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This is my first Fanfiction...  
I'm no native speaker - so I'd be glad for anyone who helps me improving and correcting :)


	2. A child's desire

**The Two Brothers' Tale  
**Told from Naruto's point of view as a first person narrator

**Chapter 2  
A child's desire**

When I reached the bottom of the page, I couldn't help but staring upon it. I was shocked.  
Never before had I read a book which shook me in such a way. It seemed to answer all the questions about my past and arouse  
new ones about my future at the same time.

I couldn't force my hands to shut the book. My eyes were wide open and sentences which I normally forgot a few seconds later echoed in my head. Although I had read it only once and for the first time, I could quote them literally, like they had been burned into my memory.

"_Once written down, their future couldn't be changed any more."  
_"A predestined future…"  
"_The fourth Hokage, the legendary Yondaime, rescued Konoha by sealing a monster in his own son… But he died."  
_"My father died because of that Jutsu…"  
"…_every time a new destiny was invented, or an old destiny was changed, a human's life had to be taken."  
_"Humans die in order to save the lives of others…"  
"_Naruto Uzumaki was alone now right from the very start."  
_"They were the ones who had thrown me into loneliness…"  
"_It was named "The Two Brothers' Tale". This is the story of Naruto Uzumaki."  
_"The tale of my life."

My speechlessness turned into fury. Someone had predestined my whole life. Someone had made me suffer for years. All these cold  
looks from other people, all these faces full of inexplicable hatred had followed me since I was born…  
Now all that made sense to me. That I had found that book couldn't be just coincidence. Somebody wanted me to read, wanted me to know the truth.  
The whole truth. Maybe it was a test to see how I would react.

I turned to the last page and found a small note. It consisted of one word.

_Kandogakure._

"Kandogakure…" I mumbled. " "Gakure" means "village"… That's got to be a place. Maybe it is the place where I find answers."  
And I suddenly knew what to do, like that word had created a path for me. A way which I had to go. I and nobody else.

The gloomy and tensed aura which I was covered in since I woke up intensified. I suddenly felt cramped and wanted to leave my room as soon as possible.  
I got dressed as quickly as I could, opened the door and went outside. Knowing instinctively that it was something dangerous or forbidden, I hid the book  
under my jacket and started to race.

The Konoha villagers' looks always followed me when I was on the streets, especially when I was running. I heard them whisper as I rushed past them.  
I didn't care. I was sprinting so fast that houses, people and trees blurred. My fury urged me on.

The sun was high on the sky and by the time I reached the borders of my village, I was covered in sweat. I had to pause.  
I sat down on a stump and slightly wondered whether I were actually able to leave the village if nobody saw me.

"Ah! Naruto! Where've ya been?"  
I jerked horribly. Looking up, I found myself looking at Jiraiya.  
What I had not expected was his look. His eyes were slightly narrowed and he appeared uncertain. He seemed to be nervous. I threw a perplexed look at him.

"Don't say you've been waiting here for me to arrive", I said ironically. "Or did I catch you gawping at girls?"  
"Y-You dare-!" screeched Jiraiya, reddening. "I surely would never-  
"-admit that you are a pervert," I finished the sentence. "And an old boy on top of that."  
"Pervert is okay," said Jiraiya, "but _old_?! I'm only fifty-three you snotty nose!"

I ignored his last sentence and asked, "What are you doing here?"  
"What are _you _doing here?" asked Jiraiya back.  
"Nothing," I answered.  
"None of your business," Jiraiya answered. We looked at each other.  
"Glad we've straightened out we both savor the pleasure of faineance." I chuckled.  
"I didn't say I'd be doin' nothin'," said Jiraiya. "I only said I'd be none of ya business."  
"So you regard yourself as sedulous if you study naked woman?" I began to enjoy this conversation.  
My master reddened again. "Well, you cannot claim it's not a serious occupation!"  
"That's a matter of taste I think." I paused.  
I wanted to leave the village as soon as possible but the moment Jiraiya had turned up I knew I had a problem.

Jiraiya knew what was inside me. And I knew that he would never let me leave that village without at least two bodyguards at my side.  
But I wanted to go alone. I had to convince or even hurt him if he continued to stand in my way. In fact, he was my master,  
but in this moment, he was an obstacle.

At first, I wanted to ask him about that book, but my wish to tell him that had faded meanwhile. I felt that this was something personal;  
something which nobody should know except me. I assumed that Jiraiya didn't know anything about such a book and I decided to hide it from him.  
I reconsidered Jiraiya's behaviour and suddenly knew what to say.

"You spoke first, that means you wanted to tell me something. What is it?"  
Jiraiya looked surprisedly down at me. "Well," he drawled, "you're right. It's about your apprentice."  
"You can't teach me today?" I tried to let my voice sound disappointed instead of hopeful.  
"I gotta do somethin' for Tsunade," Jiraiya said. "So today there'll be no training."  
A wave of relief rolled over me, but I tried hard not to let it show on my face.

"No training?" I repeated.  
"Yeah," said Jiraiya. "Don't be disappointed, Naruto. You've been training for the last three years. So what about a pause?"  
"That means you'll leave me alone?" I even managed to sound whiny. I was overtaken by myself.  
"I gotta to," answered Jiraiya. "I'm late already. I must go now."  
I watched him disappear in a cloud of white smoke. I couldn't believe he left just like that.

I stared for a few seconds at the spot where he had vanished, unable to explain why he had left me alone.  
Then, I turned round to face a big wall.  
This was the border of Konoha. I had to overcome it…  
I didn't know whether there was a special Jutsu which would debar me from leaving the village. But my only option was it to try.

I closed my eyes and concentrated my Chakra in my legs and feet. Feeling the familiar, warm wave flowing through my veins,  
I ducked, paused for the fraction of a second, and pushed off the ground. I flew high over the wall, remained for a moment in the air -  
and landed at the bottom. My feet touched the ground as gently as if I had stood up from a chair.

Again, I was puzzled. I turned round to look at the wall. Nothing had changed- despite the fact that I was looking at it from the other side.  
So I had really made it. I was outside of Konoha.

I stopped being astonished at my success and decided to move on.  
Concentrating my energies again, I jumped up a tree and continued to rush over the branches. Like that, I used to walk.  
I took a step on each branch and swept through the forest. The wind whistled in my ears and I enjoyed the feeling of freedom.

It did not take a long time to reach the next place. But again, I saw something which I had not expected.

The location I had come out was the Valley of the End. I landed upon the stony head of Senju Hashirama, an ancient leader of Konoha.  
He was eternized as a rock portrait. A waterfall between him and another stone-statue thundered down into a lake. I listened to the rushing sound,  
feeling strange. I looked around and sighed.

This place was so full of memories.

And suddenly, I knew what made me wake up so early. What made me be so nervous, so uneasy.  
Today, exactly three years ago, at this very place, Sasuke had left Konoha.  
At this valley we had fought each other so fiercely I lost consciousness. I was only thirteen.

The desire to find out more about the book vanished within one second. The memory of Sasuke pushed everything else out of my mind.  
I hunched down, not knowing why this discovery hurt me so much. I trembled. My head was suddenly filled with memories of my friend.

Three years.  
A long time in which I had not seen him a single time.  
I twitched as the pain of losing him overcame me again.  
If only Sasuke had not decided to betray Konoha and go to Orochimaru…  
If only I had been able to bring him back to us…

The pain inside me got worse, and I forced myself to think of something else.  
But my thoughts only centered around Sasuke and all I was able to do was draw my attention upon his brother. Itachi Uchiha.

The moment I thought his name, another memory came up. About two weeks ago, when I wandered around the forests of Konoha,  
he had accosted me. I concentrated, tried to recall every detail of that meeting - only to distract myself from Sasuke.

****************************************

_I __skidded to a halt__ and stared with wide eyes at Itachi._

"_What do you want from me this time?" I shouted. "Can't you leave me alone?!"  
_"_Calm down…" Itachi answered. "I only wish to talk to you."  
_"_What do you want from me?!" I tried to appear more confident than I really was. Which I didn't really achieve, because __I sounded rather frightened than furious._

_Itachi opened his eyes … and gleaming red Sharingan seemed to __pierce my soul right through__.  
__I couldn't move anymore – I was captured by this frightening look in his eyes.  
__Being paralyzed, I had no choice except listening to him.  
__Itachi looked at me in a strange manner. I couldn't say that he was furious. No, that weird thing I saw in his eyes was something else.  
Was he concerned…? He seemed so absorbed in thought._

_Then, I heard him say very quietly,  
_"_Why are you so concerned with my brother…?"  
_"_What do you mean?" I was surprised that I could still speak._

_Itachi's expression was unfathomable.  
"You've done so much and trained so hard in order to be strong enough to take him back. But he has abandoned you, and your village."  
__He took a little pause and said "He has even tried to kill you."  
__I said nothing and waited. I could feel that it was the right thing to do now._

_Itachi seemed to have expected this silence.  
"Sasuke does not want to see you anymore… so… why do you still struggle so hard to take him back?"  
__I had my answer ready. "Sasuke is like a brother to me… and I'm a better brother than you ever were!"  
_"_Oh, really…?"_

_Itachi's eyes shot something at me and a second later I knew I was caught in an illusion.  
__Itachi was everywhere and nowhere at the same time. Everything was blurred… he seemed to have __Teleported me in another dimension.  
__From somewhere out of this weird nothingness I heard Itachi's echoing voice._

"_If you had the choice between protecting your village and having Sasuke… Then which option would you choose?"  
_"_What do you mean by that-"  
_"_Could you decide between Sasuke and Konoha…?" Itachi said with an intense glare.  
_"_Would you even kill him to protect your village?"  
__My eyes widened for the fraction of a second. _

_"I'd protect Konoha… and find a way to stop Sasuke without killing him!"  
__Itachi made no face. He simply looked at me._

_Then, he said, unusually bitterly,  
"You're such a child. You can't protect your village and not kill your friend at the same time…  
Don't you know a Ninja has to be wise… and make good decisions?"_

_I clenched my teeth together and hissed,  
_"_Jiraiya has told me the same before, during our training… but… There is no choice. I promised someone to take Sasuke back to Konoha."  
__Itachi waited and heard me say with a strong determination  
_"… _And I never go back on my word! __I will continue trying to keep my promise!"  
__Itachi's look was the same, but his voice was almost amused as he said  
_"_How long do you intend to be so stubbornly?"  
_"_For the rest of my life!" I said instantly. "Because that's what being a Ninja means to me."  
_"_So you're __damning yourself to continue struggling with__ your own promises… maybe impossible promises… and that for a lifetime…?"  
_"_Yes," I answered. "If it takes that long. Keeping my promises is my Ninjaway. As I said: I never go back on my word."_

_Shortly after this phrase, something happened which __took me by surprise__.  
__Itachi was smiling. It was not a derisive, but an impressed smiling.  
_"_Such a fierce will to save a friend is admirable…" he thought.  
_"_Okay… one last question, and then I'll leave you."  
__I waited for that question with an unshakeable look._

"_What would you do if Sasuke really came back?" _

_This surprised me again, but it did not weaken my __strength of purpose__.  
_"_Sasuke's comeback… That is my dream. I don't even care whether Konoha will resume him or not…"  
_"_You don't care about your own village…?"  
_"…_because Sasuke will be definitely accepted by me," I continued as if I had not been interrupted.  
__I had my eyes closed._

"_Sasuke is… my friend. If it's not Konoha he can have…" I opened my eyes "then he'll have me."_

****************************************

I repeated these sentences again and again in my head.  
Maybe I did this out of fear to lose Sasuke completely … lose him forever if I could not tell what had happened by heart.  
I clinged to my memories as if that would keep my friend alive.

"_I will go to Orochimaru!"  
_"_You became my closest friend… That's why it is worth killing you…"  
_"_By severing our bonds I will feel more pain… and more pain means more strength to me."  
_"_I will say it once more."_

"_I will kill you!" Sasuke cried, and stormed towards me. _

"No, you did not kill me," I said. The sound of the waterfall drowned me out. Nevertheless, I carried on; it felt good to speak loudly.  
"I am still alive and… I want to see you again, no matter what you've done at that time."

A smiling Sasuke looked at me in front of my inner eye.  
Friendly, normal, sometimes a bit cold-hearted. That was the Sasuke I had gotten to know.  
That was the friend with whom I always wanted to be with.

"I want to see you so badly that it _hurts," _I murmured. "I miss you…"

"Please come back to Konoha. Come back to me…"

__

Naruto, the child, has got a dream… He wants his best friend to return.  
_Will the child's desire become true…?  
__Here, at the place where they __parted company__?_

_Next chapter – "Last words" _

_It will be uploaded on 1st March 2009_

To those who've already favourited my Fanfiction: What do you think about my story?  
I'm happy for every advice you can give me. :)


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